


Two of A Kind

by Kit_Hart (SilverSnake15)



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 15:09:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12633645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverSnake15/pseuds/Kit_Hart
Summary: College, companionship, celestials.





	Two of A Kind

(Y/N) grew up alone. Of course, she didn’t realize it for several years because she was too busy reading. The different cliques of kids would eat her up and spit her out over and over again, but she always had her books. It wasn’t to say that she didn’t _ever_ have friends, but it was far easier to count the various texts and novels she’d read in the past year than it was to do the same with people she felt comfortable around. Throughout her life, she had been a target for various forms of neglect and verbal abuse, but she always had the story of some faraway land to retreat into—until the day when the cold, sad fog gripped her mind and refused to let go. She smiled less, read less. Noticed the loneliness more.

And then came the year for her to go to college.

Like most in her situation, she was nervous concerning the details and excited on the most part. A new place meant a fresh start, a new opportunity for her to make the right choices this time. She was going to be the passionate, confident, kind woman everyone admired, rather than the moody, half-sunken, inhuman freak she’d become at home. She was determined to change things for herself, because the loneliness was hurting her. 

Living with manic-depression was difficult enough. She was four different people shoved together: the bouncing, beaming chatterbox who made the worst decisions without feeling a pinch of sadness; the suicidal, teary girl who lived curled up in the dark; the stereotypical punk rebel that snapped at everyone; and finally, the most calm part of her who got shit done and told self-deprecating jokes that came all too naturally. She’d been the teary girl far too much lately. Her friends from high school were all at their colleges, and the others (whom she hadn’t spoken to in years) probably didn’t have time for her, even if they were close by. So she was alone.

Now she was finally transferring (she hadn’t been able to start university with everyone else, long story there).

She was quiet the first week or two, too in her head to say much. Busy worrying about getting to classes on time, knowing where everything was, not looking stupid or forgetting anything, keeping her grades up (it wasn’t hard but maintaining an A average meant she was giving up on sleep certain weeks). By the first quarter, she had some associates. She’d learned the hard way not to give anyone the status of ‘friend’ too soon. Still, she found herself putting effort into the little relationships the way she always did, because she wanted to be wanted.

There was her goddamn problem: wanting to be wanted.

She’d been raised by two parents in a well-to-do home, growing up with an older brother until he left to do his own thing. No abuse, really—she just inherited a defensive streak that toughened her up as she got older. People said she wasn’t greedy, which was true enough, because she found herself putting gum and mechanical pencils on her Christmas list (gift cards were appreciated but not stressed). She only envied people for their company, not their materials goods. She wanted _to feel loved_. Something in her had never accepted or believed compliments, as she was hard-pressed to stay humble for whatever reason. So she was one of those who needed constant approval, whether she admitted or not.

* * *

The most intelligent person, she thought, was able to figure out the minimum amount of effort needed to put into a class to get an A. Her teachers could stress the importance of formulas, structured essays, and public speaking all they wanted, but simple cleverness was the most important thing, which wasn’t taught in any class (formally anyway). She procrastinated and put in minimal effort on occasion, then allowed herself to feel threatened by a bad quiz grade, to the point where she sacrificed precious hours of sleep and possible social interaction for to get homework done. Hell, she would’ve been Hermione Granger, had the witch had different parents and less of a desire to learn.

Anyway, Artemis was one of those intelligent people who thankfully wasn’t arrogant, so she was worth befriending. Most avoided Artemis because she was smarter, faster, and less tolerant of bullshit than basically everyone. Basically, she was a fucking queen. Artemis, like her namesake, was pretty independent, keeping to herself more often than not. So (Y/N) was honored to be considered one of Artemis’ friends. When she was in her element, sitting under her favorite tree with a travel mug full of tea, Artemis was actually very kind. She always was looking to help those in need, be it those close to her or perfect strangers. Occasionally she’d get kinda salty when she got to talking about environmentalism or women’s rights, but (Y/N) liked that her friend was at least passionate about something important.

”(Y/N)?” 

”Hm?” (Y/N) shook herself out of her trance. She’d had this problem a lot lately, when Artemis was around. Unfortunately, in addition to all of her friend’s positive traits, she was also beautiful: curly auburn hair with a few strands perpetually out of place, dark grey eyes that could stare into your soul, a few sun freckles sprinkled on her nose, tanned athletic frame...beautiful. Almost annoyingly so. And when she smiled, like she was now, it was so special. After all, Artemis didn’t smile for just anything. She smiled when there were new puppies born at the shelter she volunteered at, when rare celestial events were visible, _when miracles happened_.

“Class is over. We can go,” Artemis said, holding (Y/N)’s gaze a second longer before she started to put her laptop and things away, “You missed an invigorating lecture on matrices. Come on, let’s hurry so we can get some gyro.” The soft, beautiful smile stayed until the girls came across a poor guy who decided to toss his can on the ground. Artemis told his ass off, and then the friends had to wait in a 15-minute line for gyro. 

But it was worth it.

* * *

Okay, her mood had taken a serious nosedive earlier in the day, but dammit, she had made herself a promise to start being more social. That’s why she found herself outside at 11 PM, toes balled up in her sneakers as she watched the giant, VERY LOUD crowd of students bounce to a pop station being broadcasted across the quad. She tried counting the positives so she wouldn’t freak out. One, she wasn’t alone because she was with a few of her associates. They weren’t paying much attention to her but thatwasanotapositive. Two, the night air was nice and warm. Three, there was a table with university-provided snacks and drinks. Not that her fat ass needed any but thatwasnotapositive. Four...there was a crazy hot guy.

She had an amazing talent for finding and being attracted to people who were hopelessly out of her league. Usually men, because her lust was more superficial when it came to them. And this guy unfortunately caught her eye. He had a TRUE California tan, ~~blond~~ golden hair that danced as he moved, an infectious smile, one of those bodies that wouldn’t quit (literally; as far as she could tell he hadn’t stopped jumping around since she’d arrived), and more confidence than she could ever hope to have. Well, she was pretty sure he did. She’d never spoken to him, and she’d apparently lost him in the crowd. Oh well.

She decided to walk back to her dorm, because she just was not in a partying mood. Her associates weren’t that sad to see her leaving anyway. She cut a wide berth around the crowd, grabbed a bag of Fritos for the road, and turned to leave, only to meet The Hot Guy face-to-face.

”Hi! Can I walk you home?” he asked, hazel eyes almost glowing. She almost dropped her chips. No guy (aside from those she considered good friends) had ever offered to do such a thing, let alone give her the time of day.

“Uh...” 

“You live in Ewing Hall, right? I’m on the second floor.” Her usual nonchalance agreed. She just wanted to get home. He was ecstatic for a reason she couldn’t understand, until they got to the dorm entrance and he decided to kiss her. She stood there awkwardly, wondering what the fuck was going on. Then he pulled away, chuckling.

”Don’t tell me that was your first kiss.” Was he fucking _laughing_ at her? She punched him in the chest. 

“Don’t kiss me just because you think I’m an easy target, asshole!” She stormed over to the  ID reader that opened the door, eyes hot with tears. Great, he probably had some bet that he could get a stupid unpopular freak in bed or something, she thought.

”Hey, wait! _Wait_!” He hurried to her side, blocking the doors. “I didn’t think you were easy! I just saw you looking at me and I thought you were cute, so I kissed you, that’s all. I swear. I’m sorry if I scared you. Do you want to get coffee Sunday?” What the hell was going on in the universe? She swallowed a sob, and looked up at him. He seemed genuinely sorry for stealing her first kiss.

”...only if you tell me your name.” He beamed.

”I’m Aaron. What about you?” She ended up talking to him for the next half hour, until she got drowsy and had to say goodnight. He gave her his number, which she used the next day to plan their Sunday coffee. Aaron called it a _date_.

* * *

She was constantly struggling with her morality. Was it slutty to constantly spend time alone with two different people on separate occasions, if she had feelings for both of them? She and Aaron talked regularly now. He hadn’t tried to make out with her since the party, probably because he knew how weird she was now. And despite what other people thought, they weren’t a couple, either. He just had his affectionate moments (which were often; he was physically expressive no matter who he was talking to), and she had hers. Okay, sometimes he would gift her little treats and songs, and sometimes she found herself wishing he’d kiss her again. But she never started anything remotely sexual with him.

Artemis was different around her now. The way some had put it, the track star had ‘gone soft’. She snapped at everyone less, choosing to simply throw litter away and console hurt girls herself. She made more time for just she and (Y/N), inviting her to the exclusive Astronomy Club stargazing meetings and to her own apartment (a place that many of the star girl’s friends had never even gotten to visit). It was there that things had changed forever.

”Do you believe in the gods? More than one?” Artemis asked, lying side-by-side with (Y/N) as they stared up at the ceiling. There hung a large banner depicting hundreds of constellations and cosmic movements. It was the room’s sky, and at a time like now, in the late afternoon, it (plus the blackout drapes) created quite the atmosphere, nicely echoed by the fairy lights strung nearby.

“I think they existed _before_...” Artemis turned on her side to face (Y/N).

“But not now. Why?”

“Well, the myths—the _theology—_ says that they were always involved in everything. Coming down talking to people, so everyone knew they existed. I don’t think they do anymore. I mean, I know humans are fucked up, but...why’d the gods let us mess up so much? Why don’t they answer when we call?”

“You call them?” Artemis had that soft smile of hers again.

“Not-not a lot. I just talk to some of them when I’m upset, ask for stuff...” (Y/N) glanced up at Artemis and blushed. “Nevermind.”

“No, I want to know. Who do you talk to? What do you ask for?”

“Uh...sometimes Apollo, for help with my writing and music. I say hi to Artemis because she’s his sister, and I don’t want to make her feel bad—she deserves more attention, she’s a badass.” The girl next to her giggled softly. “Mostly I ask Aphrodite for love.”

“Did you get what you wished for?” Artemis asked, suddenly serious and hovering just above her.

“I—“ Suddenly, the front door of the apartment was practically blown open.

“Artie, I’m home!” (Y/N) froze, and Artemis moved to sit up on the bed. 

“How do you know Aaron?” (Y/N) whispered, just as the blond appeared in the doorway.

“He’s my twin. And he’s not Aaron, he’s Apollo. We thought you would’ve figured it out yourself, but there’s that whole suspension of disbelief thing...” It all made a lot more sense now. Different-gendered twins couldn’t be identical anyway, but Apollo and Artemis had similar features, kind of.

“...are you going to kill me?” Hearing them laugh together was interesting. Apollo had one of those happy belly-laughs, while Artemis sort of let the sound flow out of her, light and melodious. 

“Why would we kill you, lovely?” Apollo asked, coming to sit on (Y/N)’s other side. He ran his fingers through her hair, smiling down at her, and she wanted to die.

“Because-because, um, I realize I was dating both of you...” She prayed for a quick death, and Artemis snickered.

“First off, we can hear you, since you’ve chosen to believe in our people—“ the goddess explained. (Y/N) gulped, thinking about all the things she’d talked to the gods about in the past month.

“—and it’s actually really flattering, not many talk to us anymore. So we have to spend all our time on Earth now, living different lives. Olympus is gone,” Apollo added.

“And second, we’ve wanted you since we saw you. We planned to compete for you—“ 

“I gave Artie a head start—“

“Oh, shut _up_. But you seemed to like both of us, so we decided to share you. Would you like to be ours?” (Y/N) nodded almost instantly.


End file.
